4.2.3, apache 2.0.40 file access problem

Hi Folks, I upgraded to 4.2.3, but am having file access problems. Here's the code that fails: $file = "test"; if(!is_readable(getcwd() . "/" . $file))... // works if(!is_readable($file))... // fails If I access a file by full path, it works fine. If I access a file in the local dir, it fails. Even though getcwd() is the same as the full path above. I've combed through httpd.conf and php.ini but could not find the culprit. Any ideas? Thanks Cheers, -Vadim PS: Configuration: RedHat 7.2 Apache 2.0.40 PHP 4.2.3 './configure' '--with-mysql' '--with-apache2=/usr/local/apache2' '--with-apxs2=/usr/local/apache2/bin/apxs' php.ini: ;open_basedir = safe_mode = Off disable_functions = register_globals = On doc_root = extension_dir = ./ ; cgi.force_redirect = 1